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New Robot Performs Prostate Cancer Surgery

A man in the U.K. is the first to have his prostate removed using a futuristic robotics system that is said to be quicker, more agile, and more accurate than a human hand. Are robot surgeons the future of medicine?

On Friday, prostate cancer patient Stuart Ellis, 52, became the first person in the U.K. to have his prostate removed using the Kymerax precision-drive articulating surgical system, a new hand-held robot developed by the Japanese Terumo Corporation. The operation was performed at Stepping Hill Hospital in Stockport, Greater Manchester, by Neil Oakley, MD, the hospital’s leading urology surgeon.

Robot-assisted prostate surgeries have been done before — in 2009, nearly 73,000 were performed on American men, most using the da Vinci robotics system — but in the past, expert opinion has been divided on the value of such operations. For one thing, most robotic surgeries cost more than traditional surgeries — as much as $2,000 extra per patient, according to a New York Times article on the subject. Robots also tend to take longer than doctors alone and don’t have the same sensibilities as human hands. Moreover, evidence is mixed on whether robot-assisted surgery outcomes are better or worse than results from traditional methods.

One study, published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, found that laparoscopic surgery patients (those who had minimally invasive operations done with or without a robot) had shorter hospital stays, lower transfusion rates, and fewer respiratory and surgical complications than men who underwent traditional surgeries with four-inch incisions. But the laparoscopic patients were also at higher risk for post-surgery side effects such as incontinence and impotence.

The Kymerax system hopes to improve upon at least some of these problems. In addition to being 95 percent cheaper than other robotics of its kind, according to the Independent, it is said to be faster and more agile than a human wrist, allowing for more precise stitching and better maneuverability. It also combines “the touch and feel of traditional surgery with the greater accuracy and dexterity of articulating instruments,” Stepping Hill spokespeople say, so the process is a little more intuitive than with other robotics.

“It’s an honor to be the first in Britain to carry out a prostatectomy using this device,” Dr. Oakley told the BBC. “It’s the fusion of maintaining the feel and touch during an operation with the greater robotic articulation that makes it so special. This robot can do things not physically possible with a human wrist and gives you the best of both worlds.”

“Being told you’ve been diagnosed with cancer is not a pleasant experience, but it’s good to know something positive for other people is coming out of this,” added Mr. Ellis, whose father also had the disease. “This illness seems to have affected so many close family and friends, it’s great to feel involved in the fight back, in however small a way. If this means other cancer patients in the future can get quicker treatment with the most advanced technology, then I’m proud to be part of it.”